Day 4-6: Miles 39-77

Day 4: miles 39-56

Big mileage today! I had breakfast at Pine House Cafe and got to charge my devices for about 45 minutes. Then had some big climbs and gorgeous views of the various mountains, including the snow-capped San Jacinto in the distance. The trail had some really cool sections going along the side of these huge canyons. My toes are still bothering me, but I think the blisters are close to turning into callouses so I'm not too worried.

The area I camped in was the only option for a while, and was very exposed to the wind. There were maybe ten other people camping in various spots amongst the shrubs, and were clearly going to struggle keeping their tents up in the night. The forecast was for high winds but okay temperatures, and no rain, so I decided to cowboy camp (aka camping without a tent). After a great dinner with everyone huddled in a windbreak, I set up under a two big rocks - it was a very windy night but ultimately not too bad! It was just annoying adjusting my sleeping quilt every time I turned over, since the wind always found a way in. But the stars were fantastic!

Day 5: miles 56- 72

Today was another windy day, as the storm coming tomorrow gets closer. The day was mostly walking along the edge of these huge mountains, overlooking canyons and great valleys. It's always fun to round the corner of one canyon and get to see the view from the next. My feet are still bothering me a bit but as long as I don't think on them too much I can ignore it. And tomorrow I get to Julian, so I'll have plenty of time to rest them. Julian is at mile 77, so my plan was to get as close as I could, get an early night, and wake up early to hitch into town.

The early night worked in my favor, as massive wind gusts picked up around 10:30 - I luckily already had about four hours of sleep. From then until around 4am I got very little sleep, needing to get out and adjust my tent stakes or guylines every 10-30 minutes. Ugh. But there've been worst nights for sure. It was mostly frustrating getting sand everywhere each time my tent collapsed and I had to fight my way out of it, and after midnight or so it started raining, making for a wet sandy grit covering everything. Also I'm afraid I've got a minor hole in my sleeping pad from last night - I'm hoping I can find it and patch it tomorrow in town. So a beautiful day but icky night. I'm ready for town for sure.

Day 6: miles 72-77

Into Julian! I got up at 6 and saw sunrise as I walked the last five miles to Julian. The predicted storm was indeed here, and it started snowing lightly as soon as I packed up my tent. It eased into rain for a bit, then picked up in an earnest snowstorm right as I was ready to hitch. I got a hitch in about thirty seconds, as a car going the opposite direction took pity on me. It turned out to be Pitstop and her husband, who I'd met at the border!! She's hiking a second time, and he's following in his van. They were fabulous and dropped me off at Mom's Pie Shop around 9:15, as the snow was really coming down.

Mom's pies give a free pie, ice cream, and drink to every PCT hiker, which was a wonderful breakfast as I huddled next to their wood fire, charging my devices. More hikers started coming in and deciding where they would stay the night. I thought Stagecoach RV park sounded ideal - they've got tent sites, dorm rooms, and mini cabins. I finished up in town, buying a bit more food, one more stake as I lost one in the night :((, and sending some post cards home. The gear store in town offered shuttles to people to Stagecoach, which was on the other side of the trail from Julian. By then the snow had tapered off and the sun was coming out. I got to Stagecoach around 1, washed and dried my yucky, sandy tent, got some pizza, then finally took a shower and did my laundry. How glorious hot water is after only a few days without!! My laundry has now finished and I'm sitting in my bunk bed in the dorm room - we each get a full bunk, the top for our gear, the bottom for our beds. Apparently some hikers are planning to make a campfire and s'mores in thirty minutes or so, but it's still extremely windy, so we'll see how that goes.

One funny thing I've noticed is that people often ask "where are you coming from?" and it seems to mean a couple things. At the beginning of the trail, it meant "what state/country are you from?" At the end of a long day, it means "where did you camp last night?" And now in town it means "where are you hitching from?" With the storm today, Julian pulled hikers from all over it seems - anywhere from mile 40 to 77. It's very fun to see the people I passed in the beginning again!

Thanks for tuning in to my update :) I think I'll only be posting when I have a good source of power, or else it takes way too much battery to do it. So the next time will either be in Warner Springs or Idylwilld!